US shale gas reserves will last about 50 years - consultant

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--US shale gas reserves will last about 50 years according to the estimates of Frederick Peterson, president of Probe Economics, a forecasting and consulting service in the US.

"The cost of shale gas for the next 20 to 40 years will be $4-8/MMBtu [€3-6/MMBtu]," Peterson said on Friday at the 17th World Chlor-alkali Conference organised by ICIS and Tecnon-Orbichem in Singapore.

Peterson added that eventual costs will probably be $15-20/MMBtu.

The US has experienced a shale gas boom in recent years, which has resulted in falling energy and chemical production costs.